Easily Shortlist and Compare Asset Management Software That Meets Your Facilities & Equipment Management Requirements

What Is Asset Management Software?

Asset Management Software is a system designed to help you easily organise, report and control your physical, fixed, software, hardware and digital assets. It provides users with a solution to log details about all stages of the asset lifecycle, from planning to purchase an asset to disposing of it and every stage in-between.

The four main deliverables of Asset Management Software are;

1. Offer complete asset visibility
2. Provide clarity of asset status
3. Calculate the accurate financial value of assets
4. Ensure Health and Safety compliance of assets and their users

Asset Management Software is also designed to be used differently by all parts of a business;

• Operations team use to know the status and location of assets
• Financial teams use to know the financial value of assets
• Maintenance teams use it to maintain assets
• Health and safety teams use it to ensure the business is compliant and assets are in healthy condition
• The management uses reports to know the overall status and value of assets by department or business

6 Key Asset Management Software Features and Capabilities

1. Collect & Track Data In a Detailed Asset Register

An asset register is a singular repository for all your asset data. It holds important information about your assets – from when it was purchased, where it is, their status and when it is supposed to be disposed of. An asset register is one of the key reasons why most businesses invest in an asset management system as it is a single source of truth for asset data such as:

• When you purchased the asset
• Asset Location (Using asset tracking technologies like RFID, QR codes, Bluetooth, NFC, IoT and others)
• Asset Status
• Reducing costs associated with purchasing and maintenance
• Documents and Certificates related to assets
• Maintenance History
• Usage History
• Future status of assets

2. Identify the Asset Lifecycle Management Stages

Asset Management Software allows users to better identify and understand the lifecycle of each of their assets, also known as asset lifecycle management. An asset’s lifecycle can be broken down into four critical stages;

1. Planning
2. Acquisition
3. Operations & Maintenance
4. Disposal

Every stage of the asset can be leveraged to full capacity. For example, if you know that 50 assets are in maintenance over the first two weeks of February, you can plan your operations as per the maintenance schedule. The key context here is an asset management tool improves the visibility of what is happening with each stage of an asset, which improves control and deliverables.

3. Track and Manage Assets in Real-Time

Tracking capabilities offer real-time visibility of fixed assets. The ability to track physical assets is made possible by affixing tags and labels like barcodes, RFID tags, QR codes, NFC tags, and GPS trackers.

The decision to pick the right tracking technology depends on tracking requirements. From static Tag-Scan-Track to tracking every movement of an asset, the operations team typically take the call on which tracking technology suits them.

It is worth noting that quite often tracking status can be interlinked with movement or to-do workflows. For example, if an asset is not at its location, then a drone needs to be sent out to identify the right location of the asset.

4. Plan and Schedule Preventive Maintenance

Visibility from an asset register and tracking of asset stages naturally brings more attention to the uptime of assets. Using planned, preventative, and predictive maintenance capabilities, asset managers can drive the age of the assets by up to 20% and improve uptime.

Asset Management Software provides a framework to log jobs, create work orders, assign technicians and engineers, track work order completions, and report on maintenance outcomes.

5. Access Asset Data From Mobile Devices

Mobile Apps and/or Mobile access allows users to access asset data from anywhere at any time. More usable for field-based or out-of-office teams, mobile access not only offers the utility to access and key in data but also offers the capability to inspect assets. Quite often, mobile apps can significantly improve the speed and ease of asset audits and inspections.

6. Improving Control of Your Assets Using Reporting

Asset reports allow for greater insight into asset-led operations which helps users to make data-backed decisions. Asset Management Software can give you reports on any recorded data from your software, including:

1. Assets by location, status, and user
2. Assets in maintenance & downtime
3. Untracked assets
4. Tracked asset
5. Maintenance plan by asset, location, and engineer
6. Work orders by time, location, asset, and engineer
7. Costs by asset, location, and status
8. Dashboard to build your own reports

What Are The Benefits of Using Asset Management Software

The main benefits of implementing an asset management system are:

• Improve visibility of assets; know what you have and where they are located
• Improve the usage and life of assets; drive more financial and operational value from your assets
• Be in control of your assets
• Improve asset-people workflows
• Improve regulatory compliance
• Drive clarity and confidence within your asset operations

Essentially, having visibility, clarity, and confidence in asset operations are the key benefits that businesses will get out of using Asset Management Software. These benefits can also vary depending on your asset management processes.

Benefits for Teams Using Asset Management Spreadsheets

1. Asset data that you can trust. Compared to spreadsheets, Asset Management Software is easier to input data. You get drop-down options and specific asset fields and tabs that provide you with deeper information. As a result, the probability of misinformation is reduced and hence your asset data is more up-to-date and trustworthy.
2. Provision of common platform for all your team members. Version control and simultaneous use of spreadsheets is tricky. Although it is possible, there are not enough well-adopted features, which makes it difficult for asset managers to drive clarity. Asset Management Software, on the other hand, provides a common platform that is purely built to manage your assets.
3. Better communication between the teams due to improved clarity of asset data. Once you trust your asset data, you often require less communication on trivial topics and the communication shifts to improving asset operations.
4. Better access controls. You can provide relevant asset data that improves focus and specificity. With spreadsheets, it typically tends to be a data pile that users need to sort and filter to get the right information.
5. Your asset data is more secure. Cloud-based asset management systems are tested for malware attacks, virus intrusions, and improved data integrity.
6. Customised workflows. Assets are rarely managed in isolation. Quite often a status of an asset is interlined with an operational workflow. With an asset management tool, you can define the relationships between assets, users, locations, and projects. Enabling you to manage your asset workflows.
7. Scalable asset process. Spreadsheets tend to be better at managing up to 50 assets. Anything beyond that risks a higher probability of asset failure and mishandling of assets. By using an asset management system you can manage thousands of assets with ease and accuracy.

Benefits for Teams Upgrading an Existing System

Businesses that upgrade from an existing system to a new asset management system gain two things that first-time asset management buyers don’t have; Clarity of requirements and Experience in selecting and implementing the chosen software.

The above can be summarised as hindsight. As a result, the benefits are quite often realistic:

1. 10 to 40% improvement in asset-people workflows. Improving workflows that are dependent on the status of assets is one of the top reasons people upgrade to a new asset management system.Using an example; “if a furnace lid is open, then ensure the molten metal is sampled within 3 mins”. Here, the asset is the “furnace”, the status is the “lid is open” and the workflow is “the molten metal is sampled within 3 mins”.Almost every business has processes that are asset dependent. Due to the clarity of processes and experience gained in using a system, most businesses typically get a 10 to 40% improvement in asset-people workflows.
2. 5 to 30% improvement in user efficiencies. An upgrade typically means a modern interface. Modern interfaces drive speed and clarity of working, which, as a result, means most teams need to communicate less on ‘let me check’ scenarios. Resulting in a 5 to 30% improvement in users’ efficiencies.
3. Up to 50% improvement in reporting. Better asset workflows and user efficiencies lead to improved KPIs and as a result, the reporting efficiencies are significantly improved.
4. Better capabilities to manage diverse assets. Different types of assets require different fields and asset structures. For example, an infrastructure asset requires different fields and structures when compared to fleet assets. Modern Asset Management Software is better equipped to manage diverse assets.
5. Improved user experience for mobile users. Mobile has moved from information access to doing almost all the things you can do from a desktop. A mobile first design and responsive orientation of most modern systems make them highly usable on mobile devices and tablets (if the internet connection works!).
6. Tighter and two-way integration possibilities. Most modern systems use databases and have better API integration capabilities enabling easy and meaningful integrations with other systems.
7. Security at a database, network, and user level. Most modern systems need to get ISO or SOC certification, as a result, they tend to build systems that can offer protection against cyber-attacks at database, network, and user levels.

Asset Management Software Users and Best Practices

Asset Management Software is used different throughout a business by users such as:

• Asset Managers
• Facilities Managers
• Maintenance Managers
• Safety and Security Managers
• Compliance Managers
• Operations Managers (Mostly in asset-intensive industries)
• Production Managers (Mostly in asset-intensive industries)
• Quality Assurance Managers (Mostly in asset-intensive industries)

The use of an asset management system can have a significant impact in various operations, including these five scenarios:

1. Managing Property, Facilities, and Buildings

Asset Management Software enables buildign managers to:

• Build an accurate picture of what they have and where they are (Asset Register)
• Enable every user of an asset to log jobs
• Schedule, track, and monitor maintenance activities
• Record cleaning activities
• Manage workplace layout
• Track visitors and occupants for safety and security
• Calculate appreciation and depreciation

2. Organisations Manage Software and Hardware IT Assets

Businesses can collect a lot of valuable data from their IT assets, including real-time location, work order status, users, usage, and license renewals. An IT service desk system allows businesses to maintain an asset register of their digital assets.

Along with hardware tracking, software asset management helps to reduce the cost of software ownership as well as optimise the number of software assets required. An IT-focused asset management solution can:

• Provide an on-demand view of IT assets
• Manage entitlements and endpoints
• Know the usage data of cloud and on-premise IT assets
• Ring-fence IT network infrastructure to be cyber safe
• Monitor compliance with software vendor contracts

3. Businesses Managing Equipment and Machinery

Unplanned downtime of equipment and machinery can cost 3% to 18% of total revenue, which is why business use an asset management tool to utilise the uptime of their machinery. An asset management solution provides a framework that helps schedule planned, preventative, and reactive maintenance.

A technology used in most asset management solutions is the Internet of Things (IoT). This allows equipment and machinery to talk to each other, transmitting operating conditions such as temperature, pressure, and service status. IoT devices can capture this data and provide insightful reports that help to increase the uptime of machinery. An asset maintenance management system helps to:

• Schedule planned and preventative maintenance activities
• Assign jobs to internal and external maintenance engineers
• Order replacement parts
• Optimise maintenance costs
• Manage reactive maintenance activities
• Improve age and uptime of equipment

4. Stock and Inventory Management

Asset Management Software is often used to track stock and inventory. As the UK Accounting Practice requires companies to declare their assets, this feature is essential and allows businesses to record all assets in one place.

The technology used in tracking stock and inventory includes asset tracking tags. Quite often, a hand-held scanner is used as well. Typically, inventory is connected with users, location, and projects. In some cases, it can be leased as well. Using asset management tools for inventory management helps to:

• Reduce and eliminate ghost assets
• Track leased and owned inventory
• Use RFID, Barcodes, and handheld scanners to tag, track, and monitor assets

5. Fleet Management

Asset management tools help to track the location of a business’s fleet assets. The technology often used in tracking fleet assets is Global Positioning System (GPS). Asset Management Software enables fleet managers to gather various amounts of data, including driver behaviour details, fleet maintenance plans, and fuel costs. Allowing businesses to:

• Track vehicles and drivers in real-time
• Analyse and improve driver behaviour
• Reduced vehicle downtime through preventative maintenance
• Minimise maintenance, servicing, and MOT costs
• Reduced vehicle running costs such as fuel
• Improve the safety of vehicles and drivers

What Are the Different Types of Asset Management?

Fixed Asset Management Software

Fixed assets are typically larger assets used in a business’s daily operations. They’re in physical asset form and listed on a balance sheet under Property, Plant, and Equipment (PP&E). Intangible assets such as copyrights and patents also fall into this category. They include:

• Infrastructure
• Buildings and property
• Land
• Machinery and equipment
• Office equipment
• Vehicles
• Furniture and fixtures

These require extensive monitoring and tracking. This is because they’re the most expensive assets a business will invest in. Meaning asset managers must ensure a good return on investment. As well as making sure they’re always operational when needed the most.

IT Asset Management Software

An IT asset management system monitors software, IT hardware, digital, and cloud assets. It allows businesses to generate IT asset registers and build CMDBs. As well as improve network infrastructure visibility with capabilities such as service desk. ITAM software tracks assets such as:

• On-premise software tools
• Cloud-based software apps
• Computers
• Desktops
• Monitors
• Smartphones/Mobiles/Tablets
• Routers and servers

Digital Asset Management (DAM)

Digital Asset Management (DAM) is the process of storing and organising rich-media files. Enabling users to easily locate and distribute their digital assets. Digital assets consist of images, audio files, and video content. Mostly used in advertising, sales, and e-commerce. Typical features required for managing digital assets include:

• Tags and categorisation
• Role and permissions
• Quick image and document search
• Life cycle management
• Sharing between teams
• Brand preservation

Digital Asset Management enables all digital assets to be stored in one central location. Also referred to as a digital library. This ‘single source of truth’ provides quicker distribution. As well as allowing access to more teams and departments. Without DAM Software in place, efficiency and productivity can suffer. 51% of marketers waste money and time by recreating and distributing missing digital assets.

Software Asset Management (SAM)

Software asset management tools manage the purchasing and usage of software. Unlike ITAM, Software Management Systems exclusively only manage software assets. As opposed to tracking IT hardware such as computers and servers. It enables businesses to:

• Track and monitor software licences in one single-architecture program
• Perform SaaS and software license management
• Gain insights into unexpected costs and expenditures
• Stay compliant and avoid unexpected software compliance fees
• Understand the life cycle of software content

Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)

An EAM tool aims to control and measure asset performance. Essentially allowing businesses to maximise an asset’s usable life. EAM enables businesses to focus on asset management, maintenance, and performance. Although similar to CMMS software, an EAM system provides functions such as:

• Work order management
• Maintenance planning and scheduling
• Asset analytics and reporting
• Purchasing and procurement management

The Difference Between On-Premise & Cloud-Based Asset Management Software

From a features and capabilities standpoint, both on-premise and cloud-based systems are similar. Although a cloud-based solution has an inherent advantage whereby data collected by humans and machines is stored in one commonplace. This effectively creates ‘one source of truth’ for your machine-generated and human-generated asset register.

When it comes to choosing between an on-premise and a cloud-based solution, six areas of cloud-based asset management are often overlooked:

1. Usage and Business Continuity

Most businesses migrate from spreadsheets when choosing a new asset management system. Spreadsheets typically don’t allow businesses to dynamically manage their assets, which are most often connected to users, locations, projects, and equipment. With any implementation or adoption of a cloud-based management solution, we suggest that businesses consider:

The Ratio Between Out-of-the-box Functionality and Bespoke

Out-of-the-box features are available as a standard functionality and typically include asset registers, asset details, fixed asset management, IT inventory management, asset tracking capabilities, and standard reports. Bespoke functionality revolves around specific details you capture for your assets. The level of detail required varies from company to company and changes as your business evolves. The ideal ratio is 85% Standard Functionality and 15% Bespoke Development.

Cloud Downtime

Your cloud-based system is hosted on a server that is outside your office. Sometimes the server can have downtime which will affect access to your system. Cloud servers of Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Oracle Cloud, SAP Cloud, and many other big names have had downtimes. Whilst big businesses have load balancing in place, small businesses hardly have any alternatives. When you are considering a cloud-based tool, it is important to know the implications of cloud downtime for your business.

2. Evolving Asset Workflows

Small businesses are dynamic; they evolve at a faster rate compared to big organisations which means how you manage your assets can change every 12 to 18 months. For project-based companies, asset workflows are governed by the type of projects. For product-based companies, operational changes influence asset workflow amendments. There are cost implications to bespoke and configuration changes required for your cloud-based system.

3. New Features and Upgrades

With on-premise software, you typically have some sort of control on product upgrades. With cloud-based tools, upgrades happen at the server level which means you typically don’t have a choice. Some asset management tools offer upgrade choices but these types of upgrades are at the interface level rather than the database level.

4. Digital Access and Privacy

With a cloud-based asset management tool, it is vital to appreciate that you are renting the software as well as the storage to save your data. Once you stop the rental, your data needs to be handed back to you. This will allow you to leverage the complete benefit of a cloud-based asset management system whereby you can change the system without losing your data. Since most businesses hold customers’ data, you are required to be GDPR-compliant and protect their data.

5. Cyber Compromises

Whilst cyber-attacks on big businesses are widely covered by the media, cyber compromises at small businesses go unnoticed. With any cloud-based system, cyber-attacks can happen at the interface level or the cloud server level. When you are buying a cloud-based system, it might be useful to know where your data is stored; public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud?

6. Costs and Lock-Ins

Most cloud-based Asset Management Software solutions have annual subscriptions, with customers often commiting to a 3 – 5 year contract. It is recommended that you understand hosting costs data storage limits. Lock-in periods are mutually beneficial; buyers get stability and assurance whereas vendors get revenue. Get-out clauses and switching costs need to be clearly understood at the start, too.

UK’s Best Asset Management Software Products

FMIS Asset Management System

Most Suitable For

Organisations with complex asset accounting and fixed asset management requirements

Used By

1,000+ organisations

Most Used By

Medium and Large Businesses

Industry Fit

Education, Rental and Leasing, Government and Public Sector, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Oil and Gas

Can be used on

• Desktop
• Laptop
• Tablet
• Mobile

Pricing

From £1,500

See if FMIS is right for youVisit FMIS’ website

Assettrac

Most Suitable For

Organisations with asset location- and status-driven workflows

Used By

100+ organisations

Most Used By

Medium and Large Businesses

Industry Fit

Healthcare, Industrial Machinery and Components, Information Technology (IT), Funeral Services, Education

Can be used on

• Desktop
• Laptop
• Tablet
• Mobile

Pricing

From £2,500 per annum

See if Assettrac is right for youVisit Assettrac’s website

itemit

Most Suitable For

Individuals, teams and departments looking for a self-service asset tracking and management solution

Used By

200+ organisations

Most Used By

Small-Medium Businesses

Industry Fit

Engineering, Construction and Operations, Entertainment, Healthcare, Science and Research Organisations, Medical Supplies and Equipment, Charities

Can be used on

• Desktop
• Laptop
• Tablet
• Mobile

Pricing

From £249 per year

See if itemit is right for youVisit itemit’s website

Vision Pro by ACMS UK

Most Suitable For

Organisations looking to enhance operations with live asset, audit and risk compliance data

Used By

40+ organisations

Most Used By

Medium and Large Businesses

Industry Fit

Retail, Manufacturing, Buildings and Facilities, Energy, Professional Services and Consulting, Education

Can be used on

• Desktop
• Laptop
• Tablet
• Mobile

Pricing

From £295 per month

See if Vision Pro is right for youVisit Vision Pro’s website

Nanolink

Most Suitable For

Organisations with real-time asset tracking requirements

Used By

500+ organisations

Most Used By

Small and Medium Businesses

Industry Fit

Buildings and Facilities, Manufacturing, Engineering, Construction and Operations, Industrial Machinery and Components, Domestic Services and Trades

Can be used on

• Desktop
• Laptop
• Tablet
• Mobile

Pricing

From £4 per user, per month

See if Nanolink is right for youVisit Nanolink’s website

Assetspire

Most Suitable For

Organisations with complex asset tracking and management requirements

Used By

100+ organisations

Most Used By

Large Businesses

Industry Fit

Information Technology (IT), Facilities Management Services, Healthcare, Pharma, Telecommunications

Can be used on

• Desktop
• Laptop
• Tablet
• Mobile

Pricing

From £80 per user, per month

See if Assetspire is right for youVisit Assetspire’s website

Freshworks

Most Suitable For

Organisations with 250+ employees

Used By

40,000+ organisations

Most Used By

Medium and Large Businesses

Industry Fit

Information Technology (IT), E-Commerce, Automotive, Education, Government and Public Sector, Managed Services

Can be used on

• Desktop
• Laptop
• Tablet
• Mobile

Pricing

From £15 per agent, per month

See if Freshworks is right for youVisit Freshwork’s website

Real Asset Management (MRI Software)

Most Suitable For

Organisations with complex asset accounting and fixed asset management requirements

Used By

3,000+ organisations

Most Used By

Large Businesses

Industry Fit

Government and Public Sector, Charities, Defense and Security, Education, Real Estate and Housing, Healthcare

Can be used on

• Desktop
• Laptop
• Tablet
• Mobile

Pricing

POA

See if Real Asset Management is right for youVisit Real Asset Management’s website

Bulbthings

Most Suitable For

Small to medium-sized organisations with moderate to complex asset tracking and management requirements

Used By

7,000+ organisations

Most Used By

Small-Medium Businesses

Industry Fit

Buildings and Facilities, Facilities Management Services, Manufacturing, Hospitality, Healthcare

Can be used on

• Desktop
• Laptop
• Tablet
• Mobile

Pricing

From £200 per month

See if bulbthings is right for youVisit bulbthing’s website

Traclogik

Most Suitable For

Organisations looking to track movable assets in real-time

Used By

100+ organisations

Most Used By

Medium and Large Businesses

Industry Fit

Healthcare, Manufacturing, Storage, Logistics and Distribution, Aerospace, Marine

Can be used on

• Desktop
• Laptop
• Tablet
• Mobile

Pricing

From £100 per month

See if Traclogik is right for youVisit Traclogik’s website